Bloody Chess
by Echo of Sound
Summary: Ongoing AU story about Ichigo and Byakuya - first chapter is an insert of what's to come.
1. Insert

**Title: **Bloody Chess

**Fandom:** Bleach

**Rating:** G

**Warnings:** AU fic. Implied IchiBya

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Halloween was a type of night that it was typical for all the dark creatures of the night to come out and be free to roam as they pleased. But somewhere on a hill sat a lonely and cold man waiting for the torturous night to end. A man that scoffed and turned his nose up at the night in favor of obligation, and duty. This man took little time off from being the strict authority of the Kuchiki clan. A name that brought several to a halt in mid sentence many times over the centuries. It was all due to him. Kuchiki Byakuya. The Iron Fist of the clan.

Byakuya's memories washed over him like an icy bath of misery. Once he had loved, but due to disease his beloved died, and there wasn't a thing he could do to stop it from happening. She had refused his blood saying she was afraid she'd loose her humanity over it. And it crushed Byakuya when she drew her last breath. He had turned a cold shoulder to anyone that offered him comfort from that night on. There was no warming his heart after that night. Not by anyone.

Or so he thought until the night he laid eyes on, and fought a young vampire with the courage of a whole village behind him. Kurosaki Ichigo was brash, childish at best, and thick skulled, but didn't give up or quit when he set his mind to something. After their battle had become a draw, Ichigo hung around Byakuya and he talked politics. Well, it was more Ichigo shouting at Byakuya, and the much older, and colder man shrugging the stupid child off. He'd stormed in that night and interrupted Byakuya's thoughts, shouting something he couldn't possibly know of. He sometimes wondered why he'd let Ichigo stay there, but decided to ignore those thoughts.

"You shouldn't be shouting about things you don't know." The words escaped Byakuya's lips like ice on the wind. Ichigo was in his face now, and breathing on his skin. His breath smelled like sweet virgin blood, and it was all he could do to stop from licking his lips, and wanting to taste the sweet metallic life on the youth's lips, hoping the taste lingered.

"are you even listening?!" Ichigo had shouted, glaring at the old codger ignoring him. Really, what the hell was his problem?!

"I can hear you quite fine. Stop shouting or you'll wake everyone up." Byakuya tried to even his voice out as much as he could, but knew it came off sounding a little weird. And for some reason, Ichigo was smirking over that fact.

"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Ichigo grabbed the man by his robes and pulled him closer, bearing his fangs. "To have your idiot shove me out and the doors to hit my ass."

"I wish you would stop putting words into my mouth." And Byakuya wasn't disgusted so much as he was surprised when he heard Ichigo mumble "_I'll put something else in your mouth_" and kissed him. And what surprised Byakuya the most is when he felt himself kiss Ichigo back.

"You're not a half bad kisser for an old fuck Vampire, you know that?" Ichigo laughed and plopped his rear back onto his pillow across from Byakuya, who stared at him with a slightly raised eyebrow. Staring down at the board, Ichigo set up their weekly shogi game.

Byakuya didn't bother asking, or saying anything about what had just happened. He was just grateful that the taste of blood was still on Ichigo's lips, though it did irk him that he was being called old again.

Finally after a long moment of silence-or attempt at silence seeing as Ichigo wouldn't stop moving and creating his own noise-Byakuya made his move. "Vampires don't age, therefore I'm no older than you."

"Yeah yeah. Whatever, old man" Ichigo mumbled and made his own move. The idea of him not calling Byakuya old was ludicrous to him. It was Ichigo's way of complimenting him by insulting him. He was an idiot, what could he say?

Hours later Byakuya smirked slightly, and looked up at the youth almost triumphantly. "Check mate."

Looking at the board, Ichigo scowled. "I swear I'll beat you one of these days, old man." Ichigo had played with Byakuya long enough that he knew there wasn't ever a chance for a someone like him to win against Byakuya. It wasn't that he didn't have the mind for it, but Byakuya had the experience on him, and knowledge of the board. He was also more impulsive, and didn't think as much as Byakuya did on the moves. Ichigo just liked keeping Byakuya company. Liked the man even though he was cold. Gave him some kind of harsh reality to stare at.

Standing up, Byakuya grabbed a blanket from an over head cubby and laid it down beside the youth. "Goodnight, Ichigo." He said before leaving for the night.

Ichigo had given him some of warmth back that Hisana had stolen when she left him in his world. Their arguments and games of shogi meant more to Byakuya than Ichigo would ever know. He was growing too fond of the boy, and his heart was melting slowly but surely.

"Yeah yeah, goodnight Byakuya." Ichigo murmured just before he fell asleep.

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**Authors Notes:** I think in the future I might write something for this universe. I'll need to brainstorm on it though. XD Just warning you there might be more to come. 


	2. From Echo

Hey there, Bloody Chess fans! Echo here, wanting to tell you that I'm working on a second chapter of this fic. :) I've decided to expand this world, in hopes that one day I'll be able to get back into fandom writing. I've missed the world of fandom a lot in the last year or so of being away from it. I hope that my characterizations can get back into tip-top shape, since I've been out of the loop so long.

This is also somewhat a new adventure for me, considering I've never finished a chapter fic before. My poor Duel of Fates will probably never get finished. D: I just have to remember baby steps on this one.

And while you're reading this, I'd like to take the time to say how much of an honor each comment and favorite of Bloody Chess has been, and how wonderful everyone is for giving them. I know that it was choppy, and could have been better written if I'd applied myself, but reading comments really does inspire the author to do greater things. I hope that I can bring the standard of chapters up, and that the comments keep coming in. Without the encouragement, I don't know if I could finish anything.

Thank you so much each and every reader, and double thank you to everyone who's left a comment to me.

With that said, please stay tuned for the next chapter! I promise that it will be out very, very soon.

-Lots of love,  
Echo 


	3. In the Beginning There Was

**A/N: **A quick note before we get into the chapter - this is a sort of "prologue". It was something I felt would shed light onto the rest of the story as it comes out. "Chapter 1" Is still in the works, and will hopefully come out within the coming week or so. If not, I promise to update as soon as possible since I'm sort of really busy this month.

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A gentle breeze blew through the night air as a young woman enjoyed the serene moments just after sunset. The temperature was always just right in these times. The warmth of the day was slowly drew back to replace warmer air, and every moment of the new darkness melted into the next in attempt to quell the bustle of mid-day.

Reaching up with a weak hand, Hisana tucked a few stray locks of raven hair back into place to keep them from tickling her face. She had been sick for months now, and very pregnant to top it off. Her husband, the leader of a clan, had ordered any and all physicians to monitor her constantly. She wasn't allowed out of sight or to be in conditions that would compromise her health more. But some moments caused her to become agitated, and she demanded she be left alone to solitude in order to collect herself once more and be strong again.

She accepted all of that as a token of her husband's love and desire to make her comfortable and cared for. Never once had she found it to be controlling, because in the moments she spent alone with him, she saw just how concerned he was for her well-being. It touched her deeply.

This was where Byakuya found her, relaxing on the porch overlooking the pond and garden out back.

"Hisana," A deep and calm voice came from behind her.

Hisana could feel the chill of her husband's skin as he drew up behind her. The floor boards creaked just slightly as she felt him shift to kneel behind her, and a shiver ran up her spine when his cool touch reached beneath her thick kimono.

As the initial shock she always felt when her husband touched her wore off, she leaned gently against him. "I won't get any more ill by getting clean air," Hisana chided. "You worry so much."

"I have reason," Byakuya whispered in her ear as he reached around her to place his hands on her swollen belly.

"We are both fine, Bya-dono." Hisana smiled, and rested her own chilly hands atop her husband's. She was never warm anymore, and it was nothing like Byakuya's lack of warmth. "Today was a good day, but the healers have me at a loss for calm."

Turning her head to examine Byakuya, she smiled even more contently when she noted that there was less worry on her husband's flawless features. And after a moment too long of staring, she noted that the worry was back into his eyes. She always loved the color of his eyes - a medium shade of grey that matched his hair perfectly. Despite being a seemingly plain color, they were always so expressive.

"Is something the matter?"

"No, nothing." Hisana replied a moment too soon. A stabbing pain overtook her suddenly. It felt like a tanto[*] was slashing into her.

She made the mistake of showing her pain, and letting out a sound to match.

"Hisana?" The worry in Byakuya's voice made her regret ever having shown some form of weakness.

It took a moment for her to reply while she waited for the air to return to her lungs. "It was just our son kicking," She gave a weak laugh. "He is very str-"

The pain was suddenly back with even more crystal clarity and stronger than before.

Within a second she was hoisted to her feet by strong arms and carried into their room, where he shouted for the clan healers to gather around and examine her.

Had she not been in so much pain now, she would have protested it. Despite them wanting to do good, sometimes their poking her and smelling the room up with herbs she didn't recognize, did more harm than above anything else.

"Kuchiki-sama," A polite-voiced woman to her right said. "I believe your baby is on the way."

Yes, that sounded absolutely right. The pain was localized, and not throughout her body like the dull aches had been before.

"Now?!" Byakuya bellowed in surprise. "She's in such a weak state!"

Even in so much pain, Hisana found the strength to laugh at her husband's reaction. It was short lived, however, as another wave of stabbing pain washed over her. They were coming faster and faster, and each pang left her even more breathless than the last.

"I am strong enough," Hisana looked to her husband and her nurse, speaking her words breathlessly. The feeling of fatigue was so great at then, that she had to pause momentarily. "To deliver our joy into this world."

It was probably her courage that made the nurse run for an extra set of hands from the healers, but it was also what made Byakuya take her hand in his. There was something she could feel that was to change, but she couldn't place her finger on what it was. In her mind, she knew something was to happen.

"I Promise to you, he will not be harmed coming into this world." Hisana smiled through her pain, even though it made it's way to her own midnight blue eyes. "We will be strong enough."

*~*~*

Hours of Hisana writhing weakly as he gently held her in place had passed. He could sense each heartbeat that resounded through his wife, and how weak it was becomming. Byakuya knew how strong Hisana was to be able to still carry their child, and how much of a strain on her body birthing it was becoming for her. He knew that telling her the facts would only weaken her, but it was heartbreaking for him to watch her die to bring one life into the world.

"Unohana," Byakuya whispered as he smoothed the sweat from Hisana's brow. "Is there nothing that can be done to aid her?"

"No," Unohana responded. "But the baby is willing to come now. Rest your worries, Byakuya. It will be over soon."

But by that, did it mean his wife's life and his son's birth, or something else? Byakuya refused to face reality right now. As the head of the Kuchiki clan, it was not in his custom to believe in hope, but he had to exorcise it now. He had to hope that there was still some strength left in Hisana when their child was born, that he could turn her in time.

"Hisana, I need you to give your strength to this task, and push as hard as you can. Your baby wants out." Unohana instructed as she held Hisana's legs wide open.

Byakuya morbidly counted seconds by Hisana's labored heart beats until finally there was a cease in all sounds in the room. He could taste the blood on the air, but refrained from becoming a savage and wanting a taste.

Unohana gasped in terror, and for a brief moment Byakuya thought it was from all the blood in the air. Not until he craned his neck to peer at his child, did he understand why Unohana reacted in such a way.

Their child was still born. The cord attaching her to her mother was wrapped around her neck.

And even worse still, when he finally came back to his senses, he could hear Hisana's ragged breathing get more shallow.

Byakuya pulled his wife into his arms and cradled her against himself. "Hisana, do not leave me." He choked a sob. "Please, let me turn you!"

"I have been," Hisana breathed, a weak smile gracing her now ash-color lips. "As strong as I could, Bya-kun. But I do not think your life is one for me..."

Hisana raised her hand a few inches, then let it fall limply to her side, obviously not having the strength to bring it to his face. "Please take care of our son,"

The moment Hisana exhaled her last breath and died in his arms, was also not the only death to happen at that very moment. Byakuya's soul splintered into millions of tiny fragments, and the only way to release them and the fury he felt was to let out a loud roar. It resonated through the wood and paper walls, and became so loud it could probably be heard for miles, until it was sharply cut off by a choked sob and tears.

Everything he worked for and struggled to achieve in his personal life was obliterated in the span of five minutes. His wife, his child... his happiness. All of it gone, now. And he couldn't even die to join them, wherever they were. How was he supposed to go on without the only thing that made him better? Hisana was his world, and despite being the head of a vampire clan where he could have whomever he chose, he wanted her.

A hand came to rest gently on his shoulder, and it was only then that he remembered he wasn't alone in the room. Yet, it was strange. He felt more alone than he had before he met his wife.

Cold fury blazed in his slate eyes as he turned them on Unohana.

"Leave us." The command came out as cold as his stare.

Unohana wasn't shocked, though did draw back as instructed but didn't leave until a moment later.

Once he was alone with his wife, he laid her gently on the ground and picked their daughter up from where Unohana had gently laid her on the ground. Byakuya couldn't leave the child nameless, and her mother had never dreamed of having a girl.

As he looked at his daughter, his grief only struck him harder.

"It will be fine, Rukia. You and your mother will be peaceful where you are..." Byakuya kissed the babe on the forehead and placed her in her mothers arms before picking both up.

Gracefully, he carried both of his women from the Kuchiki compound to miles away where there rested a clearing. He set them down on the least soiled patch of land while he gathered wood for a funeral pyre. As soon as there was enough wood, he set them atop the stack and lit a fire.

Byakuya could not bare to watch them burn, so as soon as he knew there to be a steady fire he quickly ran back toward the Kuchiki compound to resume life. There was nothing left to do but that.

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**A/N: **A "Tanto" is a Japanese short sword - it's bigger than a dagger, but not half sword.

Comments and reviews completely welcome! I also greatly appreciate tips and criticism. They help the writer write better! ^^


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